According to Williams, who guested on TSN Drive with Dave Naylor Monday evening, he and incoming general manager Masai Ujiri played telephone tag Sunday before Leiweke -- the new president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment -- broke the news to him over the phone a day later.

"He just basically said that he was going to give Masai the opportunity to start with a clean slate and move forward with the organization," Williams said of that conversation. "Unfortunately my contract wasn't renewed."

One possible angle on all the firings is that Ujiri wants to lead a very "secretive" organization. In other words, he doesn't want things like the Jose/Tyson trade a while back with the Bobcats leaking. This helps support his motivation for having a "small" front office - this way he knows exactly who leaked and when. Perhaps Alvin had trickled a few secrets? Or perhaps MU wants his own people that he trusts? In either case, Alvin's firing is not unexpected, even if it is sad to see him go.

People have issue with it because it's written that he's been fired...If from the start it stated his contract wasn't renewed it wouldn't have the same backlash. Even if there was some statement from mgmt saying they want a new direction but told the fans that they do realize the significance of Alvin and he will be involved with charities and etc fans woulda been fine with that....perhaps he wasn't a good scout, but I think a lot of people are disregarding the fact that he was one of the few former Raptors that wanted to be associated in some capacity.

Players in all sports have strong bonds with teams they were a part of. I do not know for certain but either former players may be hesitant to approach the organization for some type of role with the team. Giving positions to former players allows them to feel a part of something for the rest of their lives. While fans get to see their organization care for their players that they had rooted for in their playing days.

This may have been the best decision for mgmt but I believe it could have been handled differently. For such a young franchise to build a brand they need people like Alvin to want to work for them, to help build a strong culture fans and players will want to be associated with.

Unfortunately the only thing the quartet are offering are vague implications bordering on passive aggressiveness about his intangible value to the organization.

Despite their 'uproar' I've yet to read anything from the quartet with a real tangible consequence of this decision.

I am not claiming to be more closely plugged in to the Raptors or the NBA - or even plugged in at all - than these guys.

What I am saying is any bit of critical thinking shows:
1) this is a non-issue and Smith decided to make it an issue,
2) the new regime likely aren't as chummy as the old with local media and it is showing in some "reporter's" writing - which in my opinion screams as 100% total unprofessional #hack hence the "reporter's",
3) Alvin Williams collecting a pay cheque in Philly appears to have created little to no value for the Raptors organization or its fan base.

Another thought that came to mind this evening that sort of applies to this situation.

Does anyone remember anything at all leaked about Denver trades with Ujiri in charge? **Forget the Melo-Drama... that was a shit show with all NY media in a frenzy** Specifically, from my recollection, the Nene-McGee trade came out of nowhere and Denver's involvement with the LAL-ORL-PHI aka Howard/Bynum deal came out of nowhere as well.

I'd hate to be a grunt with that type of secrecy around the decision makers.

One of the things I do is that I don’t restrict people to regional scouting and so it cuts my staff down. Some teams do it where they’d hire regional guys and guys in different areas and I’m a little bit different. I want whoever I have seeing everything. So when we go into a room and we have a discussion, everyone is very honest and has a strong opinion because you’ve seen the player or seen the prospect.

So the staff is going to shrink a little bit in those situations… It’s unfortunate that there has to be changes and fewer opportunities in terms of scouting positions, but a smaller staff is how I want to go.

I like his approach. I could never understand how scouts could argue for 'their guy' relative to other prospects that they hadn't seen first-hand. I much prefer scouts who have an all-encompassing view of all prospects, whether for drafts or trading purposes. Sorry Alvin.